Northwood Town & Campus group to host lecture Monday

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Wednesday, October 5, 2005

Northwood University's Town & Campus organization will be the host for the first of Northwood University's new Distinguished Lecture Series during its annual fall luncheon on Monday, Oct. 10, at noon in the Griswold Dining Hall.

Elaine Didier, the director of the Gerald R. Ford Museum and Library in Grand Rapids, will speak upstairs in the Griswold Lecture Hall after the luncheon. The museum and library showcase the legacy of Michigan's first U.S. president and is designed to provoke emotions that stimulate learning, reflection, and a sense of democratic citizenship.

Didier will speak about her new position, how presidential libraries are founded, and what the future holds for the complex.

The Ford museum/library is unique among the 11 presidential libraries operated by the National Archives by having two sites: the museum is located in Grand Rapids and the library is in Ann Arbor.

Since joining the staff in January 2005, Didier has initiated an agenda to expand the array of programs and feature exhibits and increase the visibility and impact of the library and museum.

Previously, she was dean and professor at the Kresge Library at Oakland University and at the University of Michigan for nearly 22 years in a variety of leadership positions including associate dean of the Rackham School of Graduate Studies and director of information resources for the School of Business, where she managed both computing services and the Kresge Business Administration Library. She also served as director of the International Executive Mast of Business Informatics program cosponsored with Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Town & Campus was founded in 1963 as the Tri-City chapter of the Friends of Northwood. Its mission is to act as a link between the community and the university. It provides a wide range of activities that includes bringing in respected speakers to the community, partnering with academic departments for the purpose of encouraging students and explaining and promoting Northwood and its unique "Northwood Idea."

Other programs and events planned for this year by Town & Campus include "Time for Tea" at the Northwood Gallery and an evening with Rollie Massimino, former Villanova basketball legend and Northwood's new director of basketball operations on the Florida campus. A bus trip to the junior league of Detroit's Biennial Designers' Show House (recognized as one of the top show houses in the country) is being planned for the spring.

For more information or to make a reservation, please call Karol Miller at 837-4137.